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When you first see the CM Scrubber you’ll probably say the same thing I did; “it’s too expensive!”
But the next time you have a crusty dutch oven to clean you’ll agree that it’s worth every penny.
Put some water in the oven while it’s still warm, and scrub away. The chain mail design won’t scratch, and is very effective at lifting tough baked-on residue. No soap needed, cooked-on crud will clean up easily and you’l have a clean dutch oven pretty fast without worrying about damaging the seasoning.
My CM scrubber lives in a plastic box in my kit along with a dish brush, camp suds, and a set of Lodge polycarbonate scrapers.
From Cooks Illustrated –
We passed this 4-inch square of stainless steel chain mail over a cast-iron pan encrusted with charred bits of sausage and another that we’d used for frying bacon. The linked steel rings effortlessly lifted away any stuck-on bits without damaging the pan’s finish. The scrubber itself took some scrubbing to become completely grit- and oil-free for the next use, but it dried quickly and didn’t rust. We’re even fonder of our cast-iron skillet now that we have a faster, tidier cleanup tool.
CM Scrubber Available at Amazon
I now recommend a very similar, larger and less expensive version of the scrubber: Inspired Basics Cast Iron Cleaner
If you are wondering how I wash dishes while camping, here’s my method.
One hangs by my kitchen sink. Haven’t bought any for the troop but plan on it.
This tool works great! I use it on my cast iron, stainless steel, and corningware. My wife likes to cook rice in a stainless steel pot and this cleans it in no time with very little effort.
Hi Clark, yep I’ve had my CM scrubber for about a 1 1/2 years now. Absolutely love it. It just pop up on Amazon one day and I thought I’d give it a try. Hasn’t left my cleaning supplies for camping yet.
Our unit uses Dutch Ovens every outing, save treks, and we are working on getting aluminum versions to see if that will work.
Use parchment liners. Made by Lodge and Coleman. $5. Come in packages of 8. I have tools like this, but frankly, since we’ve been using the parchment liners, all we use now are paper towels and a little vegetable oil when we are done cooking.
With one Dutch oven, we can cook three pots of monkey bread (or nachos) per hour. With one oven, you can do three course.
Parchment DO liners – don’t leave home without them.